February 2017

As Man Camp is quickly approaching, we are starting to get everything ready for the hundreds of men that will be up here at camp this spring! We are so excited to have guys from Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and all over the midwest up here to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ preached. We are also excited for all the activities this year! Here are some of the awesome things we have planned for Man Camp this spring:

Camp Aiding is the best of both worlds. As a Camp Aide, you have the incredible opportunity to be partnered with a counselor and assistant counselor to gain an inside look at what goes into being a part of Miracle Camp’s summer staff team. Camp Aiding has greatly impacted my walk with Jesus Christ and I am so thankful for the opportunities and lessons I have learned through being a Camp Aide.

Camp Aide’s have a truly unique position for the two weeks they are serving at Miracle Camp. Each is assigned a specific cabin with campers who will learn together, have fun together, and experience Christ in many ways, especially through two chapel sessions every day and cabin devotions. When Camp Aides are not with their assigned cabin, they are out doing things like personal devotions, group devotions, and camp maintenance (which let me tell you, is much more fun than it sounds). It’s awesome to form deep, Christ-centered relationships with other Camp Aides who share the same hope and purpose; to proclaim the Gospel. Camp Aides are constantly being pushed into a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ.

Trying to narrow down my favorite part of Camp Aiding is extremely difficult because almost everything could be my favorite. One thing I really loved about Camp Aiding, though, is realizing different parts of who I am that I didn’t know beforehand by being encouraged and pushed to step outside my comfort zone. Being pushed out of your comfort zone is difficult, but I believe it is important part in understanding what Jesus wants to teach you. Camp Aides also get the experience of late night staff worship, which is incredible because it allows you to take the focus off yourself and respond to all that Christ is. All of these opportunities not only result in amazing relationships made with people at camp but also with an increased love for your own personal relationship with Christ. Camp Aiding will challenge you mentally, physically, and most importantly spiritually. It will impact you in a way that makes you want to tell someone because you can not keep the joy of Christ inside.

The greatest spiritual impact on me, through Camp Aiding, has been through personal devotions. Spending time in one part of scripture really quiets your mind and allows the Word of God to impact you. Getting to discuss what Christ is doing in the lives of other Camp Aides inspires me to grow as well. These discussions strengthen the relationships between other Camp Aides and shows how God speaks differently to people. Most importantly, as I touched on above, I am so thankful for how being a Camp Aide has impacted me in my own life by pushing me out of my comfort zone. I’ve been able to see that there is a bigger picture, that our God is constantly active, and that there is nowhere better to be than to be experiencing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Being surrounded by Christ followers, and Jesus, for two weeks will leave you wanting more, and will set a fire inside your soul to experience and tell others about what Christ is doing in your life. Camp Aiding has impacted my life for the long run and I am so thankful for all the opportunities, lessons, relationships, and applications being a Camp Aide has taught me over the years. If you are going to do one thing this summer, consider applying to Camp Aide at Miracle Camp. It will not disappoint.

We are very excited about our upcoming Women’s Retreats this spring. Our Women’s Retreat weekends are full of all kinds of exciting opportunities for the women who attend including our four 75-minute sessions that include a main speaker. We have two wonderful speakers for our weekends who we are very excited to work with as they will be presenting the message of the Gospel through Scripture to the 200+ women who attend each event. Here is a short bio and some details about who our two speakers are for this year.

Joanne Kraft ~ Women's Retreat 1 ~ April 21-23

Joanne Kraft is a mom of four and the author of The Mean Mom’s Guide to Raising Great Kids and Just Too Busy – Taking Your Family on a Radical Sabbatical. She’s been a repeat guest on Focus on the Family, Family Life Today, and more. Her articles have appeared in ParentLife, Today’s Christian Woman, In Touch, Thriving Family, P31 Woman, and more. Joanne and her husband, Paul moved their family from California to Tennessee four years ago, and happily traded soy milk and arugula for sweet tea and biscuits.

Joanne is a good friend of Teasi Cannon, who has spoke at our Women’s Retreats several times in the past, and is similar in style to Teasi. Joanne will be coming to Miracle Camp for the first time as a speaker and we are excited to see how God is going to work through her during this weekend. She has plenty of experiences from her past to share about which include meeting her husband in a police station over a homicide when she was a dispatcher and he was a police officer in California. Her stories that are sure to engage will be added in with solid biblical teaching that applies to women in all stages of life. To find out more information about Joanne, feel free to visit her website at www.joannekraft.com.

Shelley Sysum ~ Women's Retreat 2 ~ Apr. 28-30

Loving the experience of growing up in Stryker, Ohio, Dr. Sysum always knew she would return to small town living. After her Masters in Social Work at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Shelley finished her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Wheaton College. She then found her husband at Willow Creek Church in Chicago, moved to rural Michigan, and after ten years in a hospital setting, opened a private practice. Dr. Sysum approaches the study of the Bible with an exegetical style, wanting to dig into, rather than just read, God’s Word. Her upbeat, frank personality allows her to be real with her audiences, discussing the joys and struggles of having four hysterical children, two high strung goats, ten too many chickens, six sweet – but doomed – turkeys, a worthless guinea hen, a blind dog, a bunny in the basement, and a cat who turns on the barn radio.

Dr. Sysum is a long time friend of Miracle Camp and has spoke here in various capacities before including leading a workshop at Women’s Retreat the last couple of years. We are excited to have her here as she is an extremely engaging and capable speaker who really looks to go deep into Scripture with her teaching.

If you would like more information about our Women’s Retreats, feel free to check out our Women’s Retreat webpage at www.miraclecamp.com/womensretreat. It’s not too late to register! If you or someone you know is interested in attending a weekend of our Women’s Retreats this spring, you can register by going on our Women’s Retreat webpage and selecting register now.

Selecting our speakers for our chapel sessions is one of the most important tasks in preparing for our retreats. Everyone has different backgrounds on what they are used to and what they are looking for when it comes to messages, so we seek to find speakers who can most effectively communicate messages based in Scripture in a way that many people find applicable. Our hope is that our speakers for our Man Camp weekends will be able to relate to men in all stages of life and be able to teach the fundamental message of the Gospel in a clear way to those who are not following Christ, while also challenging those who are more mature in their faith. Here are a few details about our speakers for our four weekends of Man Camp coming up in the spring.

Brian Clay ~ Man Camp 1 ~ March 17-19

Brian Clay is from Fort Wayne, IN and will be returning for his second consecutive year as a Man Camp speaker. He is a financial advisor who works for Edward Jones and he also has pulpit experience at Brookside Church, which he attends with his wife and three children. Brian was well received by our Man Camp attendees last year as he combined his witty humor, with refreshing messages focusing on the idea of sharing your story. He encouraged many men to be open with one another and simply share the story of their lives with other men. Brian is a fun-loving guy who is easy to talk to when he is off stage and easy to listen to when he is on stage.

Kevin Green ~ Man Camp 2 ~ March 24-26

Kevin is going to be joining us as a speaker this year for the first time. Kevin is from a small town in Michigan called Barryton which has a population of 359. Kevin has a lot of ministry experience as he has previously planted three different churches, worked for Zondervan publishing company, and now currently speaks at many churches, camps, and conferences, specifically focusing on speaking at men’s events. Kevin is a very adventurous man and has many stories to tell, including experiences from completing the Spartan Race Trifecta and handbuilding his own family’s log home. We are excited for the opportunity to partner with Kevin this spring and have him bring the Word of God to the men who attend this retreat. For more info on Kevin, you can visit his website at www.kevingreenwired.com.

Tom Harmon ~ Man Camp 3 ~ March 31-April 2 ~ Man Camp 4 ~ April 7-9

Tom Harmon has been a long time staple as a speaker at our Man Camps. Tom is a proud father of four and grandfather of 22. Yes, you read that right, 22! Between all of his experiences with his family, his years playing college football, and his 11 years of being a Michigan state trooper, his stories are sure to bring plenty of laughter. Tom is a great man of the Lord and has been doing ministry since 1984 when he stepped down from the police department and pursued God’s calling on his life to go into full time ministry. He pastored a church in Michigan for several years and has been doing itinerant preaching in churches, camps, and conferences for the past 25 years. Tom brings an overwhelming amount of wisdom and experience to our Man Camp weekends as his ability to quote Scripture from visual memory is part of his unique teaching style that is sure to engage, teach, and challenge the men who attend. For more information on Tom, you can visit his website at www.tdharmon.com.

If you would like more information about our Man Camps, feel free to check out our Man Camp webpage at www.miraclecamp.com/mancamp. It’s not too late to register! If you or someone you know is interested in attending a weekend of our spring men’s retreats, you can register by clicking here or going to our website!